Understanding the difference between XML and HTML

XML and HTML are different and they both have different goals. They are designed for different purposes. Some people think that xml is an advanced version of html and it has come to replace html. It is not the case. Both will be there as they are used for different purposes.

Linked by Christian Paratschek on Wed 16th Nov 2005 19:02 UTC (OS News)
OpenDocument got a lot of publicity lately. StarOffice 8 and OpenOffice.org 2.0 finally arrived, and all the other makers of office suites (with the notable exception of Microsoft) have started implementing the new standard into their programs.

Battle of the Buzzwords (D-Lib Magazine)
The PREMIS Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata 1 specifies the information that a repository needs to maintain for the long-term preservation of digital objects. Many institutions use the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS) to implement metadata in digital library applications.

UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News (Moldova.org)
NASA sets remaining space shuttle launchesHOUSTON, July 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it's selected target launch dates for the remaining eight space shuttle missions for 2009 and 2010.The National Aeronautics and Space Administration missions include one flight to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven assembly flights to the International Space Station and two station contingency flights, ...

XML files are meant to hold data and data in an xml file is well described. If you look at an xml file you can say what it holds. For example if you find a number in an xml file you can find out easily what that number identifies, whether it is the number of products, or the price of a product etc. In html it is not the case.

HTML is used to display the data in a formatted way. You can apply styles and use different layouts to display the data in an html file. The data that is displayed in an html file could come from an xml file.

So to say in simple words, html displays the data and xml holds the data!

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